“This year, people will take about a trillion photos, and for many of us, that means a digital photo gallery filled with images that we won’t actually look at,” Google writes. “This is especially true with new parents, whose day-to-day experience is full of firsts. “During moments that can feel precious and fleeting, users are drawn to their smartphone cameras in hopes of capturing and preserving memories for their future selves. As a result, they often end up viewing the world through a tiny screen instead of interacting using all their senses.” It measures just 2.0” x 2.0” x 0.8” and weighs a mere 1.5 ounces. The lightweight, autonomous, hands-free camera that is tiny in size comes with Moment IQ, a machine learning algorithm that lets it figure out who’s important and the ‘right time’ to capture images based on expressions, lighting and framing. “Google Clips is smart enough to recognize great expressions, lighting and framing. So the camera captures beautiful, spontaneous images. And it gets smarter over time,” Google’s website reads. Google Clips camera has a low-light mode and automatically adjusts its resolution according to the situation. Further, the camera comes with a 130-degree lens to fit more of the scene in the frame and is protected with Gorilla Glass. It can capture up to 15 frames per second and later use machine intelligence to automatically select the best shots from that burst mode. The square-shaped camera, which measures about 2-inch, comes with a 12-megapixel sensor and automatically shoots images and small video loops. There is also a manual shutter button and power can be controlled via twisting the lens. The most interesting part is that the camera comes with a clip stand, so that it can stand on its own. On the other hand, the camera can stand upright on its flat base even without the clip. The camera comes with 16GB of internal storage, and a battery which can function for up to three hours of capture with a Wi-Fi Direct for transferring photos to the smartphone. Currently, the app’s smartphone compatibility is limited and is compatible with the Google Pixel, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S8 running on Android 7.0 or greater, as well as iPhones 6 and up running on iOS 10 and greater. The device includes Bluetooth LE and a USB-C port, wherein the latter is used to recharge the camera. What is interesting is that Google starts its processing on the Clips camera itself, rather than in the cloud. Everything is saved locally unless you decide to share it online. Even without cloud processing, it can recognize faces and more. The Google Clips camera is up for pre-order at $249 for the users in U.S. and the shipping is expected to start on February 27th or 28th or early March.
